Meaning & Origins

From an Old French name of Germanic (Frankish) origin, derived from ber(n) ‘bear’ + hard ‘hardy, brave, strong’. This was the name of three famous medieval churchmen: St Bernard of Menthon (923–1008), founder of a hospice on each of the Alpine passes named after him; the monastic reformer St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153); and the scholastic philosopher Bernard of Chartres. It was adopted by the Normans and introduced by them to England. A native Old English form, Beornheard, was superseded by the Norman form.